System and method for concatenating discontiguous memory pages

ABSTRACT

A system and method are provided which significantly speed up the ability to reassemble network message transfer units (MTUs) using existing virtual memory systems. Discontiguous physical pages are rearranged in a continuous format in virtual memory by manipulating virtual page pointers in a hardware memory page table. The hardware memory page table provides any necessary virtual-to-real address translations during the execution of a process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to segmenting and reassembling message transfer units (MTU) and placing them in a memory, and more particularly to a system and method for concatenating and reassembling discontiguous MTUs via virtual memory address reassignment.

2. Description of Prior Art

One way for improving the performance of computer networks is through the use of DMA (Direct Memory Access) based protocols which automatically segment and reassemble ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) cells and place them, in sequence, in memory segments or pages which are typically discontiguous in a host computer's memory. This technique eliminates the need for system software to copy data to and from the host memory to the communications card during data transmissions, yielding effectively a zero-copy interface.

However, this technique is ineffective when the system software receives network message transfer units (MTU) that exceed the size of a single hardware page. One adhoc solution is to use pre-allocated MTU-sized buffers of contiguous pages to store incoming data from an I/O card, e.g., a communications card. This solution, however, puts a strain on the operating system for memory resources, since it has to allocate contiguous physical memory for the incoming data. A resource-efficient solution is to reassemble discontiguous pages by copying them into a contiguous virtual region of memory. This technique solves the resource problem, but is plagued by being a slow memory copy (memcopy) operation, which limits its performance.

Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method which uses existing virtual memory systems to allow for a zero-copy transfer for MTUs larger than the memory page size and which is faster than traditional memcopy re-assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for Virtual Memory MTU Reassembly (VMMR) which avoids the resource demands of pre-allocated contiguous buffers and the slow performance of memcopy operations. In the VMMR procedure, discontiguous pages are concatenated and reassembled via virtual memory address reassignment. The present invention includes a method for concatenating discontiguous memory pages in a processor. The method includes the steps of receiving a block of data that exceeds the size of a system page; writing portions of the block of data to two or more system memory pages to store the entire data block using two or more system memory pages; and assigning contiguous virtual addresses to the two or more system memory pages.

The present disclosure also relates to a system for concatenating discontiguous memory pages in a processor. The system includes a receiver for receiving a block of data that exceeds the size of a memory page within the processor; a physical storage area having a plurality of physical addresses each identifying the location of a physical memory page, where the block of data is stored within two or more physical memory pages; a virtual storage area having a plurality of virtual addresses each identifying the location of a corresponding virtual memory page, where the block of data is stored within two or more virtual memory pages; and a page table having virtual-to-real address mappings for tracking the location of the block of data in the virtual storage area.

Advantageously, the system and method of the present invention as mentioned above is faster than the traditional memcopy approach. The system and method of the present invention can also be used to allocate large contiguous buffers on demand, since the hardware page table can be used to locate a block of unused virtual memory to serve as the contiguous buffers.

Many other objects and purposes of the invention will be clear from the following detailed description of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a graph which compares a traditional memcopy and a Virtual Memory MTU Reassembly (VMMR) procedure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of VMMR within an operating system.

FIG. 3 is a graph of a system implementation in which an illustrative VMMR procedure according to the present invention is used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system and method of the present invention rearranges discontiguous physical pages by manipulating virtual page pointers in a hardware page table. Although physical pages remain discontiguous in physical memory, they are made contiguous in virtual memory. The page table provides any necessary virtual-to-real address translation. A system describing a page table configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,496 issued on Apr. 28, 1992 to Beausoleil et al. the contents of which are incorporated herein by a reference.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative chart comparing times required by the traditional memcopy approach and the VMMR procedure to concatenate, for example, from 1 to 6,144 hardware pages (4 kB each). For the memcopy approach the times rise exponentially (shown linearly on the log-log graph in FIG. 1) from approximately 200 usec (1 page) to 1 sec (6,144 pages). The VMMR curve reports the times required to re-assemble a non-contiguous MTU of 1 to 6,144 pages. At small message sizes (32 pages or less), VMMR speedup over memcopy ranges between 6 and 80. For larger message sizes (greater than 32 pages), VMMR speedup is constant at approximately 82. Therefore, the VMMR procedure of the present invention is faster over traditional memcopy operations, since it utilizes the host computer's virtual memory and a hardware page table to map the real address of an MTU to its virtual address without copying the MTU to the virtual region.

With reference to FIG. 2 there is shown a flowchart of an illustrative implementation of a Virtual Memory MTU Reassembly (VMMR) process of the present invention within an operating system. When an application or user process makes a system call to the operating system notifying the operating system to attach the application to a network device, a kernel locates a set of free pages within physical memory (Block 1). These free pages need not be contiguous and/or adjacent. The operating system allocates these pages for the user process requesting them (Block 2), and the operating system notifies the communications card of available physical pages that can be used by the operating system to receive or store the arriving MTUs into memory (Block 3). The process then polls the communications card or awaits an interrupt notifying that one or multiple fragmented MTUs have arrived and have been written to memory (Block 4). When this step has been completed, the kernel invokes the VMMR routine to reassemble each MTU in virtual memory (Block 5) and the physical pages are left untouched. The VMMR then returns a virtual memory pointer which represents the starting location of a contiguous MTU that is passed on to a protocol stack (see FIG. 3) for further processing. In a high-performance parallel processing interface, VMMR reassembles MTUs received as discontiguous pages and forwards them to an awaiting application, bypassing the protocol stack.

FIG. 3 is a graph of a system implementation in which an illustrative VMMR procedure according to the present invention is used in conjunction with an operating system. The operating system manages a number of user processes at any one time, and each process has a set of virtual pages 10 which translate to appropriate physical pages 12 in the main memory 14 through the page table 16. The page table 16 may include mappings for the currently executing process. When an MTU is received at 18 and stored into physical memory 14 from the communications card 22, the memory 14 storing the MTU is usually discontiguous 20. An area of unused virtual memory 24 for the process awaiting the MTU is then declared and used by the VMMR routines to remap the physical pages 12. The process reads the MTU by reading the virtual memory pages 10 in a sequential order. It is completely unaware that the VMMR has updated the page table 16 to provide mappings from virtual memory space 24 to physical memory space 14.

During context switching, the table is usually paged out to memory or swapped to a disk or hard drive and a new page table for the scheduled process is placed in the system area before the switch is completed. In many traditional UNIX-based operating systems, a VMMR may be done after a context switch has occurred. This is because the process that was waiting for an MTU has usually been placed on an operating system sleep queue by the time the MTU arrives. The operating system may then swap out the currently executing process, brings in the sleeping one (and its page table) from the appropriate disk location, and subsequently performs the VMMR.

For a VMMR to work, an operating system has to maintain some pool of free contiguous virtual pages. In the illustrative implementation described herein, a bitmap 26 is used to represent pages in some reserved area of virtual memory set aside by the operating system, for example during bootup or at application runtime. Generally, the executing process receives a set of physical pages as an operating parameter. The executing process then searches for a starting bit within the bitmap 26 of a contiguous set of unallocated bits equal to the number of pages requiring re-assembly. Once this bit has been found, it is converted to a starting virtual memory address (this is later returned to the application), and appropriate page table entries are added or modified to provide a transparent re-assembly. An example is provided and compared to memcopy further below.

The VMMR procedure can be optimized by reducing the bit search time. This is done by managing several bitmaps 26 of various sizes; each bitmap 26 has bits representing some fixed number of pages. Therefore, one bitmap 26 may include bits, each of which represent one page; another bitmap 26 includes bits, each of which represent two pages; and so on. When the optimized VMMR routines are called, the number of physical pages requiring re-assembly is determined, and an appropriately sized bitmap 26 is used. The free set search time drops dramatically because a set could be represented by a single bit. FIG. 1 illustrates a performance curve derived from this optimization technique.

An example illustrating and comparing the memcopy approach and the VMMR procedure follows, where a communications card has filled four pages of 4096 bytes each in the main memory in the following sequence: 1000₁₆, 7000₁₆, 5000₁₆ and 3000₁₆. The memcopy approach and the VMMR procedure relocate this 16 kB MTU in a single block starting at hex address 100000₁₆. It is noted that steps 3 to 6 of the VMMR procedure are faster than steps 3 to 6 of the memcopy approach.

Memcopy

1. Wait for an MTU to arrive (1000₁₆, 7000₁₆, 5000₁₆ and 3000₁₆).

2. Find a free address region for reassembly (100000₁₆).

3. Copy the region 1000₁₆ -1FFF₁₆ to 100000₁₆ -100FFF₁₆.

4. Copy the region 7000₁₆ -7FFF₁₆ to 101000₁₆ -101FFF₁₆.

5. Copy the region 5000₁₆ -5FFF₁₆ to 102000₁₆ -102FFF₁₆.

6. Copy the region 3000₁₆ -3FFF₁₆ to 103000₁₆ -103FFF₁₆.

7. Inform application that a new MTU has arrived and is located at starting location 100000₁₆.

VMMR

1. Wait for an MTU to arrive (1000₁₆, 7000₁₆, 5000₁₆ and 3000₁₆).

2. Get a 16 kB area of contiguous virtual address space for reassembly (100000₁₆).

3. Assign virtual address 100000₁₆ to reference memory at the region 1000₁₆ -1FFF₁₆.

4. Assign virtual address 101000₁₆ to reference memory at the region 7000₁₆ -7FFF₁₆.

5. Assign virtual address 102000₁₆ to reference memory at the region 5000₁₆ -5FFF₁₆.

6. Assign virtual address 103000₁₆ to reference memory at the region 3000₁₆ -3FFF₁₆.

7. Inform application that a new MTU has arrived and is located at starting location 100000₁₆.

The appendix attached hereto includes source code for implementing a VMMR procedure according to the present disclosure.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention can of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, that scope is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

                                      Appendix     __________________________________________________________________________     VMMR Bimap Search Code (bitmap.s)                .glob1 ..sub.-- searchBitmap     ..sub.-- searchBitmap:                li     9, 0       # useless words = 0                li     0, 0       # make sure r0 = 0     getNextword:                lwzx   8, 4, 3    # get last accessed word                addi   9, 9, 1    # increase count of useless words                cmpwi  9, 0x1000  # has the number of useless words exceeded                                  the number of                                  # words in the bitmap?                bge    error      # if so, report back an error condition                cmpwi  8, 0       # is last accessed word = 0? (i.e. is it                                  full?)                bne    beginSearch                                  # if not, we need to begin a search                addi   4, 4, 4    # add four to the current word offset (about                                  to get next                                  # word)                andi.  4, 4, 0x1FFC                                  # offset wraps around at 2K                b      getNextWord                                  # fetch next word     error:     li     3, 0xFFFFFFFF                                  # otherwise, let caller know there was an                                  error.                blr               # return to caller     beginSearch:                cntlzw 10, 8      # get count of leading zeros in current                                  word     savePosition:                mr     6, 4       # save pointer to contiguous (?) block word                mr     7, 10      # save pointer to starting bit of contiguous                                  (?) block                cmpwi  10, 0      # does the word have no lesding zeros?                bne    contCheck  # if not, continue the check                not    12, 8      # if so, then r12 gets an inverted copy of                                  r8                b      contCheck2 # ...and we jump to another point     contCheck: addi   11, 7, -1  # get absolute bit pos of last leading zero                maskg  12, 0, 11  # mask out leading zeros                not    12, 12     # invert mask                andc   12, 12, 8  # invert current word and mask out leading                                  zeros     contCheck2:                cntlzw 10, 12     # get count of leading zeros in masked end                                  inverted word                subf   11, 7, 10  # lz count 2 - lz count 1 = # of consecutive                                  ones after                                  # leading zeros                cmpw   11, 5      # is the current ones count >= number of                                  needed pages?                bge    updateBitmap                                  # if it is, we have found a contiguous                                  section -- update the                                  # bitmap                cmpwi  10, 32     # is second leading zeros count = 32? (i.e.                                  have we examined                                  # a whole word?)                beq    needMoreWords                                  # if so, we need to check additional words                                  for contiguous                                  # ones     prepForNewSrch:                li     11, 31     # place the number 31 into reg. 11 (which is                                  going to be                                  # reused anyway)                maskg  12, 10, 11 # generate a mask that will protect bits we                                  haven't looked                                  # at yet                and    8, 8, 12   # clear bits we already looked at in current                                  word                cntlzw 10, 8      # get count of leading zeros (to see if                                  there are no more                                  # ones bits left)                cmpwi  10, 32     # are there any ones bits left?                bne    savePosition                                  # if there additional ones bits left in the                                  word continue                                  # search                addi   4, 4, 4    # otherwise, add 4 to word pointer                andi.  4, 4, 0x1FFC                                  # offset wraps around at 2K                b      getNextWord                                  # get another word     needMoreWords:                addi   4, 4, 4    # increment word pointer                andi.  4, 4, 0x1FFC                                  # offset wraps around at 2K                lwzx   8, 4, 3    # get new word                addi   9, 9, 1    # increase number of useless words                cmpwi  9, 0x1000  # have we checked through more words than                                  are in the bitmap?                bgt    error      # if so, error|                not    8, 8       # if not, invert current word (inverting                                  makes leading ones                                  # to zeros)                cntlzw 10, 8      # get the number of leading zeros                add    11, 11, 10 # add the number of leading zeros to the                                  current contiguous                                  # ones count                cmpw   11, 5      # have we found a suitable block?                bge    updateBitmap                                  # if so, update the bitmap                cmpwi  10, 32     # if not, then have we read through a                                  complete word?                beq    needMoreWords                                  # if so, then get another word                not    8, 8       # invert (and therefore restore) current                                  word                b      prepForNewSrch                                  # prepare for a new search     updateBitmap:                mr     10, 6      # copy word pointer reg.                lwzx   8, 10, 3   # get word with Start of contiguous block                subfic 9, 7, 32   # get number of bits right of (and                                  including) starting bit                                  # in word                capw   9, 5       # are the number of bits in reg 9 >= tbe                                  number of required                                  # bits?                bit    notDone    # if it's less, then we need another word                addi   11, 5, -1  # otherwise, get the number of bits needed                                  and sub. 1 (prep.                                  # for abs. addrsng)                add    11, 11, 7  # add the absolute starting bit pos to get                                  tbe absolute end                                  # bit position                maskg  12, 7, 11  # generate the appropriate inverted mask                andc   8, 8, 12   # invert mask and AND it with the current                                  word                stwx   8, 10, 3   # store back the word                sliq   7, 7, 16   # rotate the starting bit pos. 16 bits to                                  form (later) a                                  # composite start addr.                or     3, 6, 7    # OR in the starting word offset and send it                                  back to the                                  # caller                blr               # return back to the caller     notDone:   cmpwi  7, 0       # is leading zeros word = 0?                bne    notDone.1  # if there are no leading zeros, clear word                                  and proceed                li     8, 0       # load reg. 8 with zero                stwx   8, 10, 3   # write back a cleared word                b      needMoreWords2                                  # continue fetching words     notDone.1: addi   11, 7, -1  # get absolute bit pos of last leading zero                maskg  12, 0, 11  # generate mask that masks out leading                                  zeros                and    8, 8, 12   # clear app. bits in word to signify that                                  they're in use                stwx   8, 10, 3   # write back word into bitmap     needMoreWords2:                addi   10, 10, 4  # increment word pointer                andi.  10, 10, 0x1FFC                                  # mask word pointer in case we need to wrap                                  around to                                  # beginning of bitmap                lwzx   8, 10, 3   # get next word                addi   11, 9, 32  # add 32 to a copy of the number of already                                  updated bits                cmpw   11, 5      # are the number of already updated bits >                                  tbe number of                                  # reguired bits?                bgt    returnAddr # if so, we need to update the word                                  appropriately and return                                  # the start. addr                li     8, 0       # if not, we need to clear the word and                                  store it back into                                  # the bitmap                stwx   8, 10, 3   # store back cleared word (to indicate that                                  the bits are in                                  # use)                addi   9, 9, 32   # add 32 to number of already updated bits                cmpw   9, 5       # have we updated the last word on a word                                  boundary?                bne    needMoreWords2                                  # no - - keep getting words                b      output     # we're done -- output starting address     returnAddr:                subf   11, 5, 9   # get number of remaining bits to clear                abs    11, 11     # take absolute value                li     12, 31     # prepare for maskg (place 31 in r12 to make                                  a mask that                                  # goes to end of word)                maskg  12, 11, 12 # make a mask that protects bits to the                                  right of those                                  # needing zeroing                and    8, 8, 12   # clear out lower bits (which indicates                                  they're in use)                stwx   8, 10, 3   # write back word into bitmap     output:    sliq   7, 7, 16   # shift contiguous block bit pointer to the                                  left by 16 bits                or     3, 6, 7    # OR the shifted pointer with the 11-bit                                  word pointer                blr               # return composite address to caller                .globl ..sub.-- freeBmpEntries     ..sub.-- freeBmpEntries:                li     0, 0       # clear reg. 0                sriq   7, 4, 16   # put the bit offset into reg. 7                andi.  6, 4, 0xFFFF                                  # mask out the word offset and place it in                                  reg. 6                mr     10, 6      # copy word pointer reg.                lwzx   8, 10, 3   # get word with start of contiguous block                subfic 9, 7, 32   # get number of bits right of (and                                  including) starting bit                                  # in word                cmpw   9, 5       # are the nunber of bits in reg. 9 >= the                                  number of required                                  # bits?                blt    notDone2   # if it's less, then we need another word                addi   11, 5, -1  # otherwise, get the number of bits needed                                  and sub. 1 (prep.                                  # for aba. addrsng)                add    11, 11, 7  # add the absolute starting bit pos to get                                  the absolute end                                  # bit position                maskg  12, 7, 11  # generate the appropriate mask                or     8, 8, 12   # OR it with the current word                stwx   8. 10, 3   # store back the word                blr               # return back to the caller     notDone2.  capwi  7, 0       # is leading words reg. = 0?                bne    notDone2.1 # if there are no leading zeros, set the                                  word and proceed                li     8, 0xFFFFFFFF                                  # set the word                stwx   8, 10, 3   # and write it back                b      needMoreWords3                                  # and continue fetching more words     notDone2.1:                addi   11, 7, -1  # get absolute bit pos of last leading zero                maskg  12, 0, 11  # generate mask that masks out leading                                  zeros                orr    8, 8, 12   # set app. bits in word to signify that                                  they're in use                stwx   8, 10, 3   # write back word into bitmap     needMoreWords3:                addi   10, 10, 4  # increment word pointer                andi.  10, 10, 0x1FFC                                  # mask word pointer in case we need to wrap                                  around to                                  # beginning of bitmap                lwzx   8, 10, 3   # get next word                addi   11, 9, 32  # add 32 to a copy of the number of already                                  updated bits                cmpw   11, 5      # are the number of already updated bits >                                  the number of                                  # required bits?                bgt    returnAddr2                                  # if so, we nead to update the word                                  appropriately and return                                  # the start. addr                li     8, 0xFFFFFFFF                                  # if not, we need to set the word and store                                  it back into the                                  # bitmap                stwx   8, 10, 3   # store back set word (to indicate that the                                  bits are                                  # available)                addi   9, 9, 32   # add 32 to number of already updated bits                cmpw   9, 5       # have we updated the laat word on a word                                  boundary?                bne    needMoreWords3                                  # no -- keep getting words                blr               # we're done - - return to caller     returnAddr2:                subf   11, 5, 9   # get number of remaining bits to clear                abs    11, 11     # take absolute value                li     12, 31     # prepare for maskg (place 31 in r12 to make                                  a mask that g                                  # goes to end of word)                maskg  12, 11, 12 # make a mask that protects bits to the                                  right of those                                  # needing zeroing                orc    8, 8, 12   # set out lower bits (which indicates                                  they're in use)                stwx   8, 10, 3   # write back word into bitmap                blr               # return to caller     Assembly Routines for VM.c and VM.h Support (VM.s)                .globl ..sub.-- getSDR1                .globl ..sub.-- putSDR1                .globl ..sub.-- tlbie                .globl ..sub.-- enablePaging                .globl ..sub.-- disablePaging                .globl ..sub.-- sync                .globl ..sub.-- isync                .globl ..sub.-- synchronize                .globl ..sub.-- getsR1                .globl ..sub.-- getTime                .globl ..sub.-- getRTCL                .globl ..sub.-- getDEC                .globl ..sub.-- dcbf                .globl ..sub.-- dcbi     ..sub.-- getSDR1:                mfspr  3, 25      # Return Table Search Description Register                blr     ..sub.-- tlbie:                tlbie  3          # TLB Invalidate Entry                blr     ..sub.-- putSDR1:                mtspr  25, 3      # Put into Table Search Description                                  Register                blr     ..sub.-- enablePaging:                sync                sync                sync                isync                isync                isync                mfmsr  3                ori    3, 3, 0x30                mtspr  3          # Turn on instruction and data paging                sync                sync                sync                isync                isync                isync                blr     ..sub.-- disablePaging                sync                sync                sync                isync                isync                isync                mfmsr  3                li     4, 0xFFFFFFCF                and    3, 3, 4    # Turn off instruction and data paging                mtmsr  3                sync                sync                sync                isync                isync                isync                blr     ..sub.-- sync:                sync              # Synchronize pipeline                blr     ..sub.-- isync:                isync             # Instruction synchronize                blr     ..sub.-- getSR1:                mfsr   3, 1       # Get contents of Segment Register 1                blr     ..sub.-- getTime:            # Get current time                mfspr  6, 4       # get RTCU                mfspr  7, 5       # get RTCL                mfspr  8, 4       # get the RTCU again                cmpw   6, 8       # has the RTCU changed?                bne    ..sub.-- getTime                                  # if RTCU has changed, we need to refetch?                stw    6, 0(3)    # write RTCU to pointer stored in r3                stw    7, 0(4)    # write RTCL to pointer stored in r4                blr     ..sub.-- getRTCL:                mfspr  3, 5       # get RTCL                blr     ..sub.-- getDEC:                mfspr  3, 22                blr     ..sub.-- dcbf:                dcbf   3, 4       # Data cache block flush                isync                blr     ..sub.-- dcbi:                dcbi   3, 4       # Data cache block invalidate                isync                blr     ..sub.-- synchronize:                sync                sync                sync                isync                isync                isync                blr     Preprocessor Support for VM.c and VMMR.c routines (vm.h)     # include <stdio.h>                                          /* MISC. PTE BITS ------- */     # define pteValid                   (1 << 31)     # define ptePrimaryHash                   (1 << 6)     # define pteChanged                   (1 << 7)     # define pteReferenced                   (1 << 8)                                          /* MISC. VH MACROS ------ */     # define SEGREG(la)                   ((la) >> 28)           /* Extract segment reg. from logical                                          address */     # define VSID(sv)                   ((sv) & 0x00FFFFFF)    /* Extract virtual seg. ID from                                          segment value */     # define API(la)                   (((la) & 0x0FC00000 >> 22)                                          /* Extract abb. page index from                                          logical addr */     # define PI(la)                   (((la) & 0x0FFFF000) >> 12)                                          /* Extract page index from logical                                          address */     # define PAGEOFFSET(va)                   ((la) & 0xFFF)         /* Extract page offset from logical                                          address */     # define HTABORG()                   (.sub.-- getSDR1 () & 0xFFFF0000)                                          /* Extract hash table origin from                                          SDR1 reg. */     # define HTABMASK()                   (.sub.-- getSDR1 () & 0x1FF)                                          /* Extract hash table mask from SDR1                                          reg. */     # define HASH(vsid, pi)                   (((vsid) & 0x7FFFF)   pi)                                          /* Create primary hash */     # define HASH2(vsid, pi)                   ˜(((vsid) & 0x7FFFF)   pi)                                          /* Create secondary hash * /     # define PTEGADDR(vsid, pi)                   (pteg.sub.-- t *) (((HASH(vsid, pi) & ((HTABMASK()                   \            /* Get primary PTEG physical address                                          * /                   << 10) | 0x3FF)) << 6) | HTABORG())     # define PTEG2ADDR(vsid, pi)                   (pteg.sub.-- t *) (((HASH2(vsid, pi) & ((HTABMASK()                   \                   << 10) | 0x3FF)) << 6) | HTABORG())                                          /* Get secondary PTEG physical                                          address * /     #define PTE0(vsid,hashtype,api)                   (((vsid) << 7) | ((hashtype) << 6)                                          /* Build the first word of a PTE *                                          /                   | (api))     #define PTE1(ppn, wim, hist)                   (((ppn) << 12) | ((hist) << 7) | ((wim)                   << 4))                 /* Build the second word of a PTE *                                          /                                          /* MISC. DEFINES ------- */     #define K     1024     #define FALSE   0     #define TRUE    1     #define COMPLETED                     0     #define NOT.sub.-- COMPLETED                    -1                                          /* MISC. TYPEDEFS ------ */     typedef struct {     unsigned long pteWord0;     unsigned long pteWord1;     } pte.sub.-- t;     typedef unsigned int uint;     typedef unsigned long vaddr.sub.-- t;                                         /* Typedef for virtual address * /     typedef unsigned long raddr.sub.-- t;                                         /* Typedef for real address * /     typedef pte.sub.-- t pteg.sub.-- t 8!;                                         /* Eight pte's to a pte group */     typedef pteg.sub.-- t pageTable.sub.-- t !;     Page Table Routines (VM.c)     #include <stdio.h>     #include "nap.h"     #include "napsys.h"     #include "napglob.h"     #include "nspstr.h"     #include "vm.h"     raddr.sub.-- t * initVirtualMemory (raddr.sub.-- t *, uint, uint, uint *,     uint, uint);     int addPageTableEntry (uint, uint, uint, uint);     int deletePageTableEntry (uint, uint);     uint getPteAttributes (uint, uint);     raddr.sub.-- t * initVirtualMemory (raddr.sub.-- t *pageTableAddr, uint     kernelWordSize, uint memWordSize, uint * bitmapSize,     uint kernWim, uint pteWim)     int i, pi, count;     raddr.sub.-- t *freeMemBitmapAddr;     uint freeMemBitmapWordsize, htaborg, htabmask, sdr1;     htabmask = 0xFFFFFFFF;     count = memWordSize >> 21;     while ((count >>= 1) |= 0)      htabmask <<= 1;     htabmask = ˜htabmask;     htaborg = (uint) pageTableAddr;     sdr1 = htaborg | htabmask;     .sub.-- putSDR1 (sdr1);     .sub.-- sync ();     for (i = 0; i < (memWordSize >> 7); i++)                                         /* invalidate all entries in the page                                         table * /      *(pageTableAddr + i) = 0;     for (pi = 0; pi < (kernelWordSize >> 10); pi++)                                         /* virtual = real for kernel,                                         including PT */      if ((pi >= 512) && (pi < 640))     /* page table fixed at 2MB * /       addPageTableEntry (0, pi, pi, pteWim);      else addPageTableEntry (0, pi, pi, kernWim);     for (pi = 16320; pi < 16354; pi++)  /* NAP STACK NEEDS VIRTUAL = REAL                                         MAPPING */      addPageTableEntry (0, pi, pi, kernWim);     freeMemBitmapAddr = pageTableAddr + (memWordSize >> 7);     freeMemBitmapWordSize = memWordSize >> 15;     *bitmapSize = freeMemBitmapWordSize;     for (i = 0; i < freeMemBitmapWordSize; i++)                                         /* clear bitmap */     *(freeMemBitmapAddr + i) = 0xFFFFFFFF;                                         /* of the page table */     .sub.-- sync();     .sub.-- enablePaging();     return freeMentBitmapAddr;     }     int addPageTableEntry (uint vsid, uint pi, uint ppn, uint wim)     {     int i = 0;     uint hash, altHash, htabmask, htaborg;     uint sdr1, api;     pteg.sub.-- t *ptegAddr, *pteg2Addr;     hash = (vsid & 0x7FFFF)   pi;       /* calculate primary hash */     sdr1 = .sub.-- getSDR1();           /* fetch contents of table SDR1                                         register */     htabmask = sdr1 & 0x1FF;            /* extract hash table mask from SDR1                                         reg. */     htaborg = sdr1 & 0xFFFF0000;        /* extract hash table origin from                                         SDR1 reg */     ptegAddr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                 (((hash & ((htabmask << 10)                 | 0x3FF)) << 6) | htaborg);                                         /* calculate physicsl address of                                         primary PTEG */     do {      if (((*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0 & 0x80000000) == FALSE) {                                         /* is the PTE valid ? */       api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;        /* if not, let's add the entry here                                         */       (*ptegAddr)  i! .pteWord0 = PTE0 (vsid, 0, api);                                         /* write first pte word */       (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord1 = PTE1 (ppn, wim, 0);                                         /* wim = xxx, history bits = 00 */       .sub.-- sync ();                  /* make sure updates have been                                         written to memory */       (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0 = (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0 | 0x8000000     0;                                  /* PTE is in place - - validate */       return 0;                         /* we've inserted a primary PTE - -                                         we're done| */      }     } while (i++ < 7);                                         /* primary PTEG is not vacent - look                                         at secondary */     altHash = ˜hash;              /* calculate secondary hash */     pteg2Addr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                  (((altHash & ((htabmask << 10)                                         /* calculate physical address of                                         secondary PTEG */                  | 0x3FF)) << 6) | htaborg);     i = 0;                              /* reset PTE counter */     do {      if (((*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0 & 0x80000000) == FALSE)                                         /* repeat above for the secondary                                         PTEG */       api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;       (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0 = PTE0 (vsid, 1, api);       (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord1 = PTE1 (ppn, wim, 0);       .sub.-- sync();       (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0 = (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0 |     0x80000000;       return 0;      }     } while (i++ <7);     return 1;                           /* time to evict an existing PTE                                         (none left) */     }     int deletePageTableEntry (uint vsid, uint pi)     {     int i = 0;     uint hash. altHash, htabmask, htaborg;     uint sdr1, api;     uint currentPte, currentPteVsid, currentPteApi;     pteg.sub.-- t *ptegAddr, *pteg2Addr;     hash = (vsid & 0x7FFFF)   pi;       /* calculate primary hash */     sdr1 = .sub.-- getSDR1();           /* fetch contents of table SDR1                                         register */     htabmask = sdr1 & 0x1FF;            /* extract hash table mask from SDR1                                         reg. */     htaborg = sdr1 a 0xFFFF0000;        /* extract hash table origin from                                         SDR1 reg. */     ptegAddr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                 (((hash & ((htabmask << 10)                 | 0x3FF)) << 6) | htaborg);                                         /* calculate physical address of                                         primary PTEG */     for (i = 0; i < 8; i++) {           /* check all 8 pte's */      currentPte               = (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0;                                         /* fetch pte i at ptegAddr */      currentPteVsid               = (currentPte & 0x7FFFFF80) >> 7;                                         /* extract the virtual segment id */      currentPteApi               = (currentPte & 0x0000003F);                                         /* extract the abbreviated page index                                         */      api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;         /* calculate the API given the page                                         index */      if ((currentPtevsid == vsid) & (currentPteApi == api)) {                                         /* if the vsid AND api match those of                                         pte i, we */                                         /* have a match| */     (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0 = 0;       /* if there's a match, invalidate the                                         pte */     .sub.-- sync ();                    /* synchronize the 601 */     .sub.-- tlbie ((*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord1);                                         /* invaldte any 601 TLB entries with                                         pte i's ppn */     .sub.-- sync();                     /* synchronize the 601 (again) */     return 0;                           /* operation successful */      }     }     altHash = ˜hash;              /* calculate secondary hssh */     pteg2Addr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                  (((altHash & ((htabmask << 10)                                         /* calculate physical address of                                         secondary PTEG */                  | 0x3FF)) << 6) | htaborg);     for (i = 0; i < 8; i++) {      currentPte               = (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0;                                         /* fetch pte i at the secondary pteg                                         address */      currentPteVsid               = (currentPte & 0x7FFFFF00) >> 7;                                         /* extract the virtual segment id */      currentPteApi               = (currentPte & 0x0000003F);                                         /* extract the abbreviated page index                                         */      api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;         /* construct the API given the page                                         index */      if ((currentPteVsid == vsid) & currentPteApi == api)) {                                         /* do we have a match ? */       (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0 = 0;    /* YES - - invaldte the PTE in the                                         secondary PTEG */       .sub.-- sync();                   /* synchronize the 601 */       .sub.-- tlbie ((*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord1);                                         /* invalidate any matching TLB's */       .sub.-- sync();                   /* synchronize again */       return 0;                         /* operation successful */      }     }     return 1;                           /* PTE has no entry in the page                                         table| ERROR| */     }     uint getPteAttributes (uint vsid, uint pi)     {     int i = 0;     uint hash, altHash, htabmask, htaborg;     uint sdr1, api;     uint currentPte, currentPtevsid, currentPteApi;     pteg.sub.-- t *ptegAddr, *pteg2Addr;     hash = (vsid & 0x7FFFF)   pi;       /* calculate primary hash */     sdr1 = .sub.-- getSDR1();           /* fetch contents of table SDR1                                         register */     htabmask = sdr1 & 0x1FF;            /* extract hash table mask from SDR1                                         reg. */     htaborg = sdr1 & 0xFFFF0000;        /* extract hash table origin from                                         SDR1 reg. */     ptegAddr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                  (((hash & ((htabmask << 10)                  | 0x3FF)) << 6) | (htaborg);                                         /* calculate physical address of                                         primary PTEG */     for (i = 0; i < 8; i++) {      currentPte               = (*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord0;                                         /* fetch pte i at ptegAddr */      currentPteVsid               = (currentPte & 0x7FFFFF80) >> 7;                                         /* extract the virtual segment id */      currentPteApi               = (currentPte & 0x0000003F);                                         /* extract the abbreviated page index                                         */      api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;      if (((currentPte & Dx80000000) |= FALSE) & (currentPteVsid == vsid)                  & (currentPteApi == api))                                         /* is the pte valid? do the vsid AND                                         api */                                         /* match those of pte i? */       return ((*ptegAddr)  i!.pteWord1);                                         /* if so, return the pte's attributes                                         word */     }     altHash = ˜hash;              /* calculate secondary hash */     pteg2Addr = (pteg.sub.-- t *)                  (((altHash & ((htabmask << 10)                                         /* calculate physical address of                                         secondary PTEG */                  | 0x3FF)) << 6) | htaborg);     for (i = 0; i < 8; i++) {      currentPte               = (*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord0;                                         /* fetch pte i at pteg2Addr */      currentPteVsid               = (currentPte & 0x7FFFFF80) >> 7;                                         /* extract the virtual segment id */      currentPteApi               = (currentPte & 0x0000003F);                                         /* extract the abbreviated page index                                         */      api = (pi & 0xFC00) >> 10;      if (((currentPte & 0x80000000) |= FALSE) & (currentPteVsid == vsid)                  & (currentPteApi == api))                                         /* is the pte valid? do the vsid AND                                         api */                                         /* match those of pte i? */       return ((*pteg2Addr)  i!.pteWord1);                                         /* if so, return the pte's attributes                                         word */     }     return 1;                           /* The virtual address is not mapped;                                         ERROR| */     }     VMMR Routines (VMMR.c)     #include <stdio.h>     #include "nap.h"     #include "napsys.h"     #include "napglob.h"     #include "napstr.h"     #include "../vm/vm.h"     extern int addPageTableEntry (uint, uint, uint, uint);     extern int deletePageTableEntry (uint, uint);     extern unsigned int getPteAttributes (uint, uint);     vaddr.sub.-- t * ioBufVMemAlloc (raddr.sub.-- t *, raddr.sub.-- t  !,     uint, uint, int, uint);     int ioBufVMemDealloc (raddr.sub.-- t *, vaddr.sub.-- t  !, uint, uint);     void ioBufVMemInit (raddr.sub.-- t *);     void ioBufVMemInit (raddr.sub.-- t * ioBufFreeListAddr)     {     unsigned long i;     put.sub.-- sr1 (0x00FFFFFF);        /* arbitrarily map buffers to last                                         virt. segment */                                         /* in virt. space */     for (i = 0; i < 2048; i++) {        /* one 256 MB segment is mapped by 2K                                         words */      *(ioBufFreeListAddr. + i) = 0xFFFFFFFF;                                         /* clear I/O buffer free list                                         (1=avail.0=not) */     }     }     vaddr.sub.-- t * ioBufVMemAlloc (raddr.sub.-- t * ioBufFreeListAddr,     raddr.sub.-- t ppnArray !, uint bufSize,                  uint ppnArraysize, int indexReset, uint wim)     {     static uint wordOffset = 0;     uint vsid, pi. bitOffset;     uint j, k, compStartAddr, pagesToAlloc;     pagesToAlloc = (bufSize >> 12) * ppnArraySize;                                         /* calculate number of contiguous                                         pages to * /                                         /* allocate in bitmap */     if (indexReaet) wordOffset = 0;     /* reset word offset if requested */     compStartAddr = .sub.-- searchBitmap (ioBufFreeListAddr, wordOffset,     pagesToAlloc);                                         /* search the bitmap and get back a                                         composite */                                         /* start address */     if (compStartAddr == 0xFFFFFFFF) return 0;                                         /* if there are no entries left,                                         ERROR| */     wordOffset = (compStartAddr & 0xFFFF) >> 2;                                         /* word offset is the lower halfword                                         of the */                                         /* comp. addr / 4 */     bitOffset = compStartAddr >> 16;    /* bit offset is the upper halfword                                         of the */                                         /* comp. addr */     pi = (wordOffset << 5) + bitOffset; /* page index is the word offset                                         × 32 + */                                         /* bit offset */     vsid = get.sub.-- sr1() & 0x00FFFFFF;                                         /* get the virtual segment id */     for (j = 0; j < ppnArraySize; j++) {     for (k = 0; k < bufSize >> 12); k++) {     if (addPageTableEntry (vsid, ((pi + j*(bufSize >> 12) + k)) & 0xFFFF,                  (ppnArray j! >> 12) + k, wim))                                         /* add a page table entry */     return (vaddr.sub.-- t *) -1;       /* we can't add a page table entry -                                         - ERROR| */     }     }     return (vaddr.sub.-- t *) (0x10000000 | (pi << 12));     }     int ioBufVMemDealloc (raddr.sub.-- t * ioBufFreeListAddr, vaddr.sub.-- t     vaArray !, uint bufSize, uint vaArraySize)     {     rsddr.sub.-- t paddr;     uint vsid, pi;     int i, j;     vsid = get.sub.-- sr1() & 0x00FFFFFF;                                         /* get vsid */     for (i = 0; i < vaArraySize; i++) { /* check all virt. addresses in the                                         psssed array */     pi = (vaArray i! & 0x0FFFFFFF) >> 12;                                         /* extract page index from the                                         virtual address */     paddr = getPteAttributes (vsid, pi) >> 12;                                         /* extract the phys. addr. from the                                         PTE at */                                         /* (vsid, pi) */     for (j = 0; j < (bufSize >> 12); j++)                                         /* clear entries in the word list */      if (deletePageTableEntry (vsid, pi + j)) return -1;     .sub.-- freeBmpEntries  (ioBufFreeListAddr, ((pi & 0x1F) << 16)     | ((pi >> 5) << 2),                        (bufSize >> 12));     vaArray i! = paddr;                 /* update passed array with physical                                         addresses */     }     return 0;     }     __________________________________________________________________________ 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for concatenating discontiguous memory pages, said method comprising the steps:receiving into a transfer buffer a block of data that exceeds the size of a system page; storing the block of data using a processor to two or more system memory pages of a memory, each system memory page having a location identified by a physical address; identifying at least one bitmap having bits representing a fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages of an area of unused virtual memory, the fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages being equal to or greater than the number of virtual memory pages required to store the block of data during the duration of the concatenating method; storing the block of data using the processor to two or more of the fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages; assigning virtual addresses to the two or more system memory pages where each virtual address identifies a location in the memory of a virtual memory page; and determining the location of the block of data stored in the two or more contiguous virtual memory pages by mapping the two or more system memory pages to their assigned contiguous virtual addresses.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more system memory pages are physically disjunct.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a hardware memory page table includes virtual-to-real address mappings for mapping the two or more system memory pages to their assigned contiguous virtual addresses.
 4. A system for concatenating discontiguous memory pages in a processor comprising:a receiver for receiving at least one block of data that exceeds the size of a memory page within said processor; a physical storage area having a plurality of physical addresses each identifying the location of a physical memory page, said at least one block of data is stored within two or more physical memory pages; a virtual storage area having a plurality of virtual addresses each identifying the location of a corresponding virtual memory page; at least one bitmap having bits representing a fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages of the virtual storage area during the duration of a concatenating method, said at least one block of data is stored within two or more of the fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages; and at least one memory page table having virtual-to-real address mappings for tracking the location of the at least one block of data in the virtual storage area.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the two or more system memory pages are physically disjunct.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the block of data is a network message transfer unit (MTU).
 7. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor updates the at least one memory page table during the execution of a process.
 8. The system of claim 4, wherein said at least one bitmap represents said fixed number of contiguous virtual memory pages in some reserved area of the virtual storage area set aside by an operating system.
 9. The system of claim 4, wherein a protocol stack is used to temporarily store said at least one block of data before said at least one block of data is stored in said virtual storage area.
 10. A system for concatenating and reassembling discontiguous pages via virtual memory address reassignment, said system comprising:means for receiving a block of data that exceeds a size of the processor's memory page; means for writing portions of the block of data to two or more system memory pages so that the entire data block is stored using two or more system memory pages; and means for assigning contiguous virtual addresses to the two or more system memory pages wherein the contiguous virtual addresses belong to a group, the group includes a fixed number of contiguous virtual addresses which is equal to or greater than the number of system memory pages used to write portions of the block of data during the duration of a concatenating method.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the two or more system memory pages are physically disjunct.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein a hardware memory page table contains virtual-to-real address mappings for mapping the two or more system memory pages to their assigned contiguous virtual addresses. 